Words you Can Never Take Back
by wencho17
Summary: Cody could see the sadness in her eyes, the regret, the pain. He knew what that was like because not long ago he wished his father dead too only for the man to actually pass away before he had a chance to make things right. Cody loved Charlotte and he refused to let her know the same pain. One-shot set after Charlotte told Ric he was dead to her. Past Cody/Charlotte relationship.


**Because my mind goes in random places sometimes, here is a one-shot with my Codlette or maybe Chardy (still need that celebrity couple name!) pairing, taking place following Charlotte and Ric Flair's segment two weeks ago on Raw. Pre-established past Cody/Charlotte relationship.**

As it turns out, people do not appreciate when a grown man cries. In fact, the only thing they appreciate less is the person responsible for those tears.

Walking back to her locker room, Charlotte found that out first hand. She received these dirty looks, some from people she barely knew. But the thing was, they knew Ric, and even those who didn't know him personally, knew his legend and knew that he didn't deserve the evisceration he received in the ring. In their eyes, no daughter should make their father feel the way Charlotte did Ric Flair.

And what was worse was that he got backstage and walked those same halls before her, meaning he soaked up all the sympathy, the hugs, the looks of sadness and pity as well as those who did nothing but look away. All that was left for her were the glares, the harsh words, the "how could you do this to your own father?"

They only knew what they saw and what they saw was a two-time hall of famer being absolutely humiliated in the ring he spent over three decades in, at the hands of his own daughter who he not only brought into this business but helped become champion as well. Yeah, when you put it like that, Charlotte could understand why everyone would want to take Ric's side.

But they were just observers. They were fans of the Nature Boy, they admired and respected him. They got into wrestling because of him. They didn't see what was behind the scenes. They didn't live it. They didn't know what being Ric Flair's daughter actually meant, what it actually entailed.

She did, she did all too well. She knew that he was in the ring making all of those people adore him all the while missing birthdays, Christmases, ballet recitals, softball games. She was known at school as Ric Flair's daughter and this meant being popular with the guys. They all wished he had been their father but all Charlotte wished was that she had a dad who was present in her life, not just on the TV screen.

That's not to say she didn't love her father because she did and always would, with everything she had. But this wasn't about that love. Everything just blew up in the ring and it made it seem that way. And sure, she said some things she wished she hadn't but her emotions were taking over. All of those years wondering why she didn't have someone to take her to the father-daughter dances, wondering when he'd be home and how long he'd be home for. Ric Flair led a life of glory and glamour, of intrigue and worldwide respect. There wasn't room in there for a little girl who would have traded all of his fame and fortune just for one more hug, one more kiss at night.

The truth was exactly what she said in that ring and even though the rest of the locker room, the rest of the company, the fans, were all disgusted by her actions, Charlotte knew that every word she said came from a place deep in her heart. It was a manifestation of her childhood and everything she had ever hoped it to be. But no, it's not like any of them would have understood that. They didn't grow up the way she did, they didn't have a father who spent more time on the road than at home.

They weren't Ric Flair's daughter and they'd never truly know just how much that role actually hurt sometimes.

Charlotte found her eyes welling up once again. That was another thing really. They just booed her, they judged her. They failed to see the pain in her eyes or how her heart broke at having to say the very words. No one would ever know just how agonizing the decision had been for her or how she felt absolutely terrible about it almost as soon as the words left her lips.

They would villainize her and for what?

For speaking the truth? It wasn't her fault that said truth painted Ric in a very different light. Those people adored him. He was their hero and her words cut him down. So of course she was the monster in this scenario, not him, not the man who was more focused on his titles than his children.

Like father like daughter though it seemed, because Charlotte's drive was now singular, her focus solely on being the greatest women's champion of all-time. Of course, it wasn't like she had a family or kids to care for. No, it was just her, only her and that's how she liked it.

Finally traversing past the people who had decided they hated her now and found her to basically be the scum of the earth, Charlotte reached her private champions' locker room. She closed the door, took a deep breath and then fell to the ground and cried.

Charlotte let it all out.

She hated this, all of this. She hated what she said, she hated the look in his eyes. She loved him but she had hurt him more than anyone else ever had. Charlotte knew how proud her father was of her and how he had come to find being her manager as one of the greatest times of his life. She knew this because she felt the same way. For a while, they shared in the same passion, the one thing left that connected them to her baby brother. It was no secret that both of them were now living for him, wrestling in honor of him and the dream he never managed to fulfill.

Thinking of Reid just made the tears flow even more. She was here because of him, not Ric. But the bond the two shared in the ring was special. It almost made all of those years of absentee parenting go away. Almost.

But then people told her she couldn't win on her own. They told her that her career was more about him than it was her. He was always there after all at all of the big moments, soaking up the adulation. Charlotte tried to believe he was doing it for her but part of her couldn't shake that he was doing this for him, that he was using her to live vicariously. He never did want to leave the ring after all and first with David, then Reid, and now Charlotte, he never had to.

She just needed to feel special for once, to feel like people were responding to her. And coming out to her father's music and her father's entrance with her father's woo chops and a variation of her father's finisher wasn't exactly a way for people to see her as anything other than daddy's little girl. And that was fine. She was a Flair after all and she deserved every bit of that legacy. But she did understand how all of that, plus Ric as her manager, could be overshadowing.

This wasn't personal. Okay, so it wasn't entirely personal. Her motivations were business mostly. It was time to cut the cord that was holding her back and to finally have the courage to express the neglect she felt over all those years.

Charlotte had gotten so immersed in the gravity of the situation that it wasn't until the knock at her door got a little louder did she snap out of her trance enough to hear it. Wiping the mascara from her face, Charlotte opened her locker room door, unable to believe who had been standing on the other side.

It was a friend, well; he used to be a friend, a best friend really, more than a best friend. But the two hadn't even spoken in close to a year. Well they had, but not meaningfully and certainly not in the way they used to. If anything, their relationship had been relegated to some hellos in the hallway or affirmations of "good match" and the corresponding "thanks."

Charlotte had no idea why he suddenly acted as if she never existed or as if what they shared a long time ago meant nothing. And she certainly had no idea why he was standing in front of her door, sans face paint, for the first time in close to a year.

"Hi Charley," he said softly as he stood against the doorframe. "Got a second?"

Charlotte nearly froze at the sound of his voice. For once, it wasn't masked by insanity, of these weird proclamations and non-sensical statements about the stars and the fifth dimension. He was the same person she remembered from their youth, back when they were inseparable on those rare occasions she was allowed on the road with her dad and he was training to become a wrestler, spending time in his brother's care. He was the same old Cody, the one who made her weak in the knees, the one who was the only person other than Reid allowed to call her Charley.

"I've got to pack up some stuff for the night but sure, I've got a second," Charlotte said as she walked toward the back of the room, allowing him to enter.

"It's nice what you've done with the place," Cody said trying to cut through the tension.

Charlotte tried to keep her composure but it was just so damn hard around him. He made her emotions go crazy. One minute she wanted to push him against the wall, kiss him and tell him she never stopped loving him and the next, she could only look into his eyes and see him walking away from her, away from what they could have had. Sure, they were just kids, him 17 and her 16, but she knew he was the one even back then and part of her was convinced that he had to know too.

"They treat us nice, the champs that is," she continued, absentmindedly throwing some things in a suitcase. "You should see Roman's locker room. It's even bigger believe it or not."

"I wouldn't know," Cody said under his breath, quickly catching himself.

This wasn't about him and his career shortcomings, not this time. It was about her and by extension about them and something else they now had in common. Only this time, it was something he was sure he never wanted to have in common with anyone, least of all the woman who had been both his best friend and love of his life.

"So, I wanted to know if we could maybe talk," he continued as he shuffled his feet back and forth along the carpeted floor. "I wanted you to hear this from me."

Charlotte finally turned back to him trying to hide the tears she had been unable to stop from flowing down her face.

"What uh, what did you want to talk about?" she asked nervously.

Cody walked closer to her and bit his lip. It was his tell and she knew that better than anyone.

"Is everything okay?" Charlotte asked as she closed the remainder of the distance between the two.

Cody nodded his head. He had to tell her. It was only right that she find out from him and not the letter he was preparing to release. But as Cody looked into her eyes, her beautiful eyes, he almost lost his nerve, almost.

Slowly, he grabbed her hands. It had been so long since he felt her touch but damn did it feel so right. Cody only wished he had done that sooner that he had talked to her when she first came up from NXT. Instead, he hid behind this persona that he absolutely hated now, a persona that made him say and do so many things he wasn't proud of. Stardust had hurt a lot of people and he was sure by the look in her eyes, that Charlotte was one of them.

It absolutely broke his heart to know the pain he caused her but he couldn't go back. He couldn't undo the things he did or unsay the things he said. All he could do now was look forward and this decision, this news he had to break to her, was him doing exactly that.

"Charley," he said softly. "Tonight's my last night with WWE. I'm, I'm going to ask for my release in the morning and hopefully, Vince will grant it."

"Oh," she simply said, the words not quite registering.

Charlotte wasn't sure what to do about that or the hands that had clasped hers so gently, so she did the only thing that came naturally. She pulled away from his grasp and walked as far away as possible.

"Charley, I," Cody tried, but she stopped him before he could get any further.

"You don't get to call me that anymore," Charlotte said as new tears began to form. He was leaving again. Leaving her. And at the time when she needed him the most.

Cody sighed as he closed the gap again. They stood face to face and he took his hand to gently wipe the falling tears from her eyes.

"You'll always be my Charley," he said longingly as he stroked her hair.

For a few moments, Charlotte held the embrace, this having been the only thing she had wanted for months from the fellow second generation superstar. She had wanted his touch but instead he ignored her. It wasn't fair to her that now that he was leaving, all of a sudden that would change.

"I can't do this with you Cody," Charlotte said as she broke away again. "I can't, not today, not after what happened tonight."

Cody nodded his head as he walked closer toward the door, creating more distance between the two. "About that," he said nervously. "That's partially why I'm here. I mean, I wanted to say goodbye the right way this time, but before that, I knew I had to talk to you about what happened out there. Charley, you don't seem okay."

For whatever reason, this set Charlotte off. It was like the straw that broke the camel's back of all of the pent-up frustration she held onto ever since the day she read his letter about how he was moving to train at OVW and how the two of them needed to go their separate ways, a decision he made entirely on his own.

"I don't seem okay?" she practically laughed in his face. "Really Cody, what gives you that impression? Because the last time I checked, you don't get to tell me that I'm not okay. You lost that when you stopped being my boyfriend, when you stopped being my friend. Do you know how much I needed you? When I made it to the main roster, you were the first person I came to find, but when I did, Stardust was looking back at me. You were so cold, so distant. You acted as if we never meant everything to each other. Dad told me to give you your space and I did but nothing changed. And before that," Charlotte took a deep breath.

She had been waiting for years to tell him how she felt and given she had already told off one of the men in her life that night, what was one more?

"Where were you?" she asked simply, the tears holding steady in her eyes. "When Reid died, where were you? Dammit Cody, I needed you! I needed you and you weren't there. My brother, the person I was closest to on this entire planet was gone and the only person I wanted to see was you. Your brother came to the funeral, your father. But you weren't there and why? Because some stupid wrestling event. It was just like dad all over again, just like when we were teenagers all over again. You chose this over me. A part of me died that day Cody, it died with Reid. And as much as I hated this business and what it did to my family, he loved it and I swore that in his memory, I would live out his dream the way he was never able to. But I just wanted you by my side during all of it. I wanted to call you so many times, just to talk like we used to. But you changed your number and I had to give up. I needed you dammit and you're telling me now you're here for me? No Cody. You don't just get to come in here and say, 'Hey Charley, I still care about you but guess what I'm leaving again so have a nice life.' I'm sorry but my heart, it just can't take any more. I've already lost my dad. I refuse to get close to someone else just to lose them too. So if that's all you came here to say then you can go."

His heart broke for her. It broke for them. After years of loving each other so deeply, so fully, first as best friends when they were kids to the blossoming relationship they had as teenagers, how had that love turned into this?

Cody remembered the time when they were barely teenagers and Charlotte snuck onto Ric's tour bus. The two spent that entire summer together, sneaking backstage at events, meeting the talent, causing Ric and Dustin an innumerable amount of headaches. It was the same summer they shared their first kiss, the same summer that the 13-year-old Cody found out what it meant to be in love.

He would never forget that time and he would never forget her but his life and hers, they went in opposite directions. She was adamant about not wanting to go into wrestling as were both of her parents. At the time, Ric already had David plying the family trade and Reid not far behind. He wanted to keep Charlotte away from that life and Cody had his suspicions, away from him.

It just didn't make sense to him though. The two barely saw each other. He lived in Georgia, she in North Carolina. And it wasn't like anyone was so quick to get plane tickets for their 12 and 13 year old children to fly across the East Coast by themselves. Although, he recalled the one time when Dustin was injured that he convinced his brother to take him to North Carolina. Charlotte was so surprised. And then of course, every time the circuit ran through Charlotte or Greensboro or anywhere within a two hour driving distance from home, the Flair siblings packed into David or Meghan's car to see Ric wrestle. Given it was one of the few times they got to see their dad, Cody knew how much it meant to her. He also knew how much it meant to him that she would always find time to seek him out, to steal kisses and other moments in the back of Ric's tour bus, just to be together.

He had loved her. In many ways still did, but their timing just didn't sync up. She wondered why he avoided her, why he hid behind the mask of a persona the second he first laid eyes on her when she came up to Raw, it was because he couldn't face those feelings, because he couldn't face that very question she had finally asked.

Why wasn't he there to hold her hand, to rock her back and forth in his arms, to tell her that everything was going to be okay? Why couldn't he be bothered to show up at the funeral and catch her tears? His own father had even sent him a plane ticket, but it went unused. To this day, it was unused, but he kept it in his wallet as a reminder of one of the worst and most selfish decisions of his life. He loved her but he wasn't there for her and at the end of the day, being that person hurt him as much as he knew it hurt her.

But again, this wasn't about the past, because he couldn't fix the past. He couldn't change what happened that day or what happened the day he decided they could no longer have secret rendezvous on the road. He wished he could but he couldn't. All he could do is be there for her now, even if she wanted nothing to do with him.

"Look at me," Cody finally said, the silence of his thoughts and her tears eating him alive. "I've never stopped loving you and part of me never will. And that's why I need to say this to you. I know you Charlotte, I know your heart. And I know that what happened in the ring tonight came from that place. It came from that place you don't like to talk about, from that place of him never quite being able to give you what you wanted, what you needed. So I understand, but I need you to understand something too. You still have your dad. I know you two haven't always been close but what he's been to you lately. I know because I lived it. The way your face lights up after you two cut a promo. Or how he's the first person you want to talk to after a match and the last person you want to see before you leave the arena. Charlotte, you and him have never been closer these past few months and I know, believe me I know, why that makes all of this hurt so badly. But please, if you want nothing else from me anymore, just take this. He's not always going to be there and saying he's dead to you, believe me, you'll never know how much you could end up regretting that."

Cody couldn't face her any more as his own tears threatened to match hers. But he had said his peace and knowing he would never be able to heal her heart from the damage he caused, he thought it best to go. Taking one last look at her face, her beautiful but saddened face, Cody made his way to the door. He had just gripped the knob when she stopped him.

"Dusty," she said simply, knowing exactly what Cody had been referring to. She knew the bond the two shared. She was even envious of it at times. She knew just how shattered he was when his father died even if he couldn't admit it to her then.

And despite everything, Charlotte had even tried to be there for him, returning a favor that he never really deserved. But she loved him and that's what you do for the people you love. You forgive them even if they haven't earned it, even if they can't forgive themselves.

But Cody was still lost to Stardust then. In fact, he was lost to Stardust until this very moment. This was the first time since they were teenagers that she was seeing him, the man behind the mask. More importantly it was the first time she was seeing his heart and all of the pain that lied in those eyes. No longer shrouded by dark black, no longer hiding, Charlotte could feel Cody's soul and she wanted desperately to just reach in and draw it close. But she was too afraid so instead she put up her own barriers, hoping desperately he wouldn't, like always, find a way to get over them.

"Yeah," Cody said without turning around. His fingers tapped on the door frame, his eyes focused on the wood. He couldn't bring himself to face her, to face himself. If he had one regret in life other than leaving her it was never having the chance to make things right with his father before he died.

"I told him that Cody was dead," he continued, glassy eyes still on the door. "I told him Cody was dead and that he might as well have been too. And then, a few months later, he was."

The room fell silent, the only noise being the two hearts which were aching as one. Cody had been right. The two had so much in common, from their upbringing to their favorite music, to the fact that they were both right here in this company. But this was one thing he didn't want to share with her and she knew that. She could tell he was concerned for her and what it would do to her if Ric had succumbed to the same fate Dusty did before she got a chance to take back those words.

They had come so quickly too, she barely knew what she was saying. Everything had just gotten so heated and like the breaking of a damn, Charlotte was unable to stop everything from coming to the surface. He looked at her with tears in his eyes matching her own but all she could say was that he was dead to her.

She never meant those words just as she was sure Cody never would have if he had been himself at the time. He never got the chance to make it right though, but here he was, determined to make sure she didn't make the same mistake.

Still, she remained silent, unsure of what to say to him in that moment. Fortunately, Cody had found the words and turned back to face her, the pain of his regrets stinging his eyes.

"It's not too late for you and Ric," he said. "I know you didn't mean to say what you did. I know it was just the microcosm of everything that you were feeling. But Charlotte, those words, don't make the same mistake I did. Don't make those words one of the last things you ever say to your dad. I won't let you. I won't let you break the way I did. You love Ric and he loves you. Let that be what you share in his final moments whenever they may come. Don't be the child that turns their back on their father only to watch him die before you had the chance to let him know just how much you loved him, just how much you respected him, just how much you never ever wanted him gone."

For the first time in a long time, their eyes truly met. They were staring past the physical at this point and into the depths of each other's souls. Their very being, just bare and naked, exposing themselves to the other in a way that no other person would ever know. Because only Cody got to know Charlotte in such an intimate sense and only she got to know him the same way.

Charlotte was still angry, still hurt and confused. She couldn't understand why he threw what they had away, why he couldn't be bothered to be by her side in her toughest hour. But, none of that changed the fact that she still loved him and she knew that he loved her. It didn't change the fact that it wasn't in her nature to hold a grudge, not against him and not against her father.

She had nothing left to offer him verbally but she connected to their shared pain. Without any further hesitation, Charlotte wrapped her arms around his neck and just cried. No words, just tears. Tears of so many different emotions that she couldn't even keep track of which was which.

Holding her tightly in his arms, Cody wished he could go back to the time when they were just kids, back when they had no cares in the world and only each other. In that moment, they shared that childlike innocence and he just wished, longed really, for those days long ago.

Without so much as another word, the embrace came to a natural end, the two slowly separating from each other's arms.

Cody nodded his head and again made his way for the door.

"Cody," Charlotte said softly as he turned his head one last time. "Good luck with life outside of the WWE."

"Maybe one day, when you're ready, I can come visit you at one of the shows," he replied. "A plane ticket from Georgia to North Carolina isn't as hard to get as it once was."

For the first time since everything happened in the ring, Charlotte smiled and not a fake one either. This was genuine, this was love.

"I'd like that," she said. "Oh and one more thing? Dusty knew. He knew how much you loved him, how much you respected him. He knew and nothing is ever going to change that."

Cody sighed as he caught one last tear falling from his eye.

"Make me proud champ," he replied with a slight smile, unable to bring himself back to that painful place. "Take care of yourself Charley."

With that, Cody was gone and once again Charlotte was alone. Although this time she realized, she didn't enjoy it as much as she thought she did. In truth, she missed him already and she missed her dad.

She could still fix that though. Sure, the storyline was going to be what it was but she could salvage their real-life relationship. He wasn't a perfect father, far from it, but he was the one she had, the one she was so damn lucky to still have. Despite any unresolved feelings of abandonment that might always be there, Charlotte knew she had to make it right. Not just for herself and Ric, but for Cody and Dusty too.

The opportunity was there for her to do what he so deeply regretted never having the chance and she had no choice but to take it.

 **A/N – So, like I said, the random musings of my brain. Hope you all enjoyed it and as always, if you have any questions, want to know my motivation behind this pairing or just find yourself in an emotional mess of a ball after reading this like I did writing it, feel free to PM me. I'm always up for a chat!**


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